Economic Trends and Forecasts

The US economy continues to slowly climb out of the 2008-2009 recession trough (see Chart 1 below).This slow growth is expected to continue into 2013.

Chart 1

Economists responding to the latest National Association of Business Economists (NABE) Outlook Survey expect US economic growth to be tepid overall in 2012 and 2013, but predict growth to slowly accelerate through 2013, with GDP reaching a 3 percent pace by the fourth quarter of 2013.

The global economy has yet to shake off the fallout from the crisis of 2008-2009. Global growth dropped to almost 3 percent in 2012, which indicates that about a half a percentage point has been shaved off the long-term trend since the crisis emerged. This slowing trend will likely continue.